The Pairing Randomization
by NerdForestGirl
Summary: I asked for random couples on Instagram. I wrote stories about those pairings. Originally posted on Tumblr in October of 2019. I've included five mini stories per chapter here. All main characters included as well as several side characters.
1. Chapter 1

_**Sheldon and Bernadette**_

"Uncle Sheldon!" Halley shouted as she ran up to him as he inspected the expiration date of the various milk cartons in the refrigerator units of the dairy section of the grocery store. Sheldon looked down and jumped back. He wasn't used to children running at him. Then he noticed who exactly the little girl was.

"Hello, Halley. Where are your parents?" Sheldon asked.

Halley looked back, but then she shrugged. She had lost her mother somewhere around the time that she spotted her Uncle Sheldon.

"I suppose we should go look. Am I supposed to pick you up?" Sheldon asked the little girl at his feet. She nodded enthusiastically, so he scooped her up. Luckily his sister never relented on him spending time with her children, so he wasn't too bad at holding them. Or at least he was good enough at holding this little girl as to not look like he was trying to steal her.

"Mama!" the toddler shouted when she finally saw her again. Bernadette turned and sighed in relief. The girl had only been missing for a minute, but that was long enough to send Bernadette into a complete panic.

"She got a little distracted by the sight of an Uncle Sheldon in the wild," Sheldon said as he handed over the little girl. "I'm like a Pokemon," he joked.

Bernadette had no idea what that meant, but she smiled all the same. She was glad that Sheldon had kept an eye on her daughter. There was a time that she would have been sure that Sheldon would have just walked away. He wasn't like that anymore. He was a good friend.

"I was about to call, but we saw you before I got out my phone. Don't tell Amy that I didn't call right away. She would never forgive me," Sheldon explained.

"Amy forgives a lot. Goodness knows she would have to," Bernadette said. "But thank you for returning my daughter."

Sheldon nodded, but just fell in beside Bernadette as she started down the aisle again. When she stopped to grab a box of cereal, he stopped too. However, he didn't say a word to her. He just stood next to her as she selected this item or that. When they came across something he needed, he added it to his own basket, but he didn't leave Bernadette's side.

"I'm sure you have lots of other things you need to get," Bernadette finally said. His presence didn't really bother her, but she thought he was being a bit odd. He was sticking with her, but he didn't seemed to enjoy her company. Every time she tried to say something to him, he just gave her a one or two word answer. It wasn't like him to not have an opinion on everything.

"I've been getting them," he assured her as he held up his basket.

He got in line behind Bernadette to pay. For some reason, Bernadette waited for Sheldon to finish up paying.

"Want a ride home?" Bernadette asked Sheldon.

"Yes, please," Sheldon said.

At the minivan, he helped Bernadette load all of her groceries in while she got the kids into their carseats.

"That was very fun. We should go shopping together more often," Sheldon said when Bernadette pulled up in front of his building.

"Was it? You barely said a word to me," Bernadette said.

"Exactly. You made me very comfortable. Thank you for the ride."

Bernadette wasn't quite sure what to say to that, so she nodded and watched as Sheldon got his groceries out of the car and went inside.

"I like Uncle Sheldon," Halley said as Bernadette started to pull away. "He was fun to shop with. He made funny faces to me and Michael when you got more food."

"Well, maybe he'll be our new grocery store buddy," Bernadette offered.

* * *

_**Howard and Bernadette**_

"Will you marry me?" Howard asked Bernadette as he handed her a cup of coffee. She was about to head out the door to work.

"Pretty sure we're already married," Bernadette told him. She kissed him goodbye.

"Again?" Howard asked. "It's our tenth anniversary next month."

"No it's not," Bernadette said. She knew when she got married. It wasn't ten years ago, and to be honest, she was a little disappointed in Howard for not knowing that. He was usually pretty good about having dates like that in his calendar. Plus, they were married in May, not October.

"Our first date was October 19th 2009," he explained.

"I'll think about it," Bernadette choked out. As annoyed as she just was about him forgetting the date of their wedding, it was clear that he was actually very on top of it. Sometimes he was so sweet.

"Okay. Maybe we can finally have our big reception." They were originally supposed to have a reception when he got back from space, but life got in the way. He had been thinking about that again since Sheldon and Amy's wedding. They got all of the stuff Howard felt like he missed like dancing and cake. It didn't bother him much because Howard did get the amazing wife. Still, he wanted to celebrate that with his friends.

After Bernadette got to work she decided that she would embrace the sappiness of her husband. She texted him that she would love to marry him again if he would do most of the planning. She was too busy to invest in it, but she would show up in a dress if he gave her a time and a place.

Howard agreed, but he had no real idea how to plan a wedding. Luckily, his best friend would be very good at putting it together. Raj was more than happy to help with the whole thing, but he dragged Howard in to do most of the planning with him.

"I can't believe you married him once," Penny said to Bernadette when they and Amy were out dress shopping.

"I know, but it seemed very sweet. Our first wedding was so rushed, and you and Leonard did the same thing."

"That was for our families."

"And I'm glad that Howard's mother was able to come to the first one," Bernadette told her. "Now, what do you think of this one?" Bernadette asked her friends about a short off white dress covered in lace. She twirled for Penny and Amy. The girls murmured their approval.

Then, ten years to the day they first met, Howard and Bernadette met all of their friends in a park in town. They took the chance to update their vows to include things like putting up with magic tricks and bossiness and taking turns to change dirty diapers. They promised to always laugh at themselves because life was funny. They promised to always love their children and put them first, but to also love and take care of themselves.

"I thought this was a silly idea, but I'm having fun," Bernadette said to Howard.

"Me too, and now you are double stuck with me," Howard told her before he kissed her.

Bernadette thought that there was no one she would rather be stuck with.

* * *

_**Siebert and Amy**_

Sheldon was out of work because he was sick, so Amy was trying to figure out where to have lunch. She could eat alone in her lab, but she wasn't interested in doing that. She could probably go to the private dining room or the club, but none of her friends would be there. She decided to check the cafeteria.

Only no one was there either. Well, there were plenty of people around, but there was no Leonard or Howard or Rajesh. Not even Bert was around. It seemed like Amy was stuck having lunch all by herself. She started towards the line to buy food when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"There's my favorite Nobel Laureate. Why don't you join me for lunch?" President Siebert said to Amy.

Amy didn't want to have lunch alone, but she wasn't sure she wanted to eat with President Siebert either. Still, he was her boss. She nodded. They turned to go back to the private dining room.

"What were you doing in the cafeteria?" Amy asked.

"I had to talk to one of the English faculty. When I was leaving, I saw you. Since Dr. Cooper is out today, I thought that you would like to have lunch with me."

"How did you know Sheldon isn't here?" Amy asked. It wasn't like he had to call in. If he got his work done, no one cared where he was.

"We always know when Dr. Cooper doesn't come in."

"People are that excited to not have to deal with my husband?" Amy asked.

"Yes," Siebert said. "He's obviously a genius, but most people are happy to have a break."

"I'd be insulted if I didn't agree so much. He's been a pain all weekend because he's sick. I was happy to get back to work this morning just to get a break myself."

President Siebert laughed and opened the door to the dining room for Amy. She knew she was welcome here whenever she would like to eat here, but most of the time she either ate with Sheldon in his office or all together with the guys. Or her lab if she didn't have time to get out of there.

"What are you working on these days?" Siebert asked Amy.

Amy liked that someone asked about her work. She didn't feel like she got to talk about it often enough. Of course Bernadette always understood at least the basics of Amy's work, but she was busy with her job and family. No one else in her life ever really asked.

"Oh. I worked on this addiction study years ago at UCLA, and there were results that always bothered me that I would like to follow up on. They took me off the project over there, but I've been able to pick it back up here," Amy admitted. She didn't say anything about why she was pulled from the project. She was given a lot of leeway here, but maybe not so much as to excuse throwing poop back at monkeys.

Amy fell into talking about her study. It was nice to have someone be willing to listen to her talk about it. Even if Siebert was probably only feigning interest to be nice.

"We should do this again," Amy said at the end of lunch. She felt a little bad about monopolizing the conversation, but she had had a great deal of fun.

"Of course. Any time Dr. Cooper is out, stop by. I'd love to hear updates on your project."

"Sorry it's not as life changing as asymmetry. I probably won't win any more Nobels for you," Amy said.

President Siebert looked at her incredulously. "What you are doing will change lives if you are right. Our country is being torn apart by addiction right now. Nobel or not, what you are doing will save people."

* * *

_**Leslie and Kripke**_

Leslie was so exhausted by Sheldon and all of the attention he got. It wasn't at all deserved. So what if he had some new crackpot theory that was getting buzz. He wasn't going to win the Nobel. Even if everyone was saying that. So, Leslie was going to go to the only person she was sure hated all of this attention that Sheldon was getting as much as she did. Barry Kripke.

"'Sup, Kripke. Wanna help me play a prank on Sheldon and his wife?" Leslie asked.

"I'm always down to play a prank on Cooper, but we should leave Amy out of this. She's sweet," Kripke offered.

"Really? You like the wife?"

"I do. Dr. Fowler is a very nice woman. She gave me a brownie when I dropped by Cooper's office last week. She baked them for him, and he was upset that she shared. She just gave him a stern look and handed me a brownie."

Leslie just shrugged. Other than Sheldon's birthday party a few years ago, she didn't really know Amy Farrah Fowler. She was fine leaving her out of this if Kripke was uncomfortable playing a prank on her.

Leslie and Kripke spent lunch together brainstorming a way to torture Sheldon for fun. When they had a fully formed plan, they decided to just pull it off that night. There didn't seem to be any reason to wait.

Kripke went into Sheldon's office to make sure Amy wasn't there and to start messing with Sheldon. He walked in and then sneezed. Then he sneezed again.

"Get out!" Sheldon shouted as he pulled his shirt up over his mouth and nose.

"It's just allergies," Kripke assured him before he sneezed again right in Sheldon's face.

Sheldon shoved Kripke right out of his office. Then he grabbed his Purell. He didn't think there was enough alcohol in the world to fix this, but Sheldon covered both of his hands and his face in hand sanitizer. It burned when he got it close to his eyes, but it seemed worth it.

Leslie walked in a few moments later.

"Hey, loser," she said.

"You get out too!" Sheldon shouted.

"I was just going to see if you had seen Barry? Everyone is looking for him because of some lab accident."

"Lab accident?" Sheldon asked frantically.

"Yeah. I guess he might have been exposed to some kind of new virus they are working on," Leslie told him. Then she went to open the door. On the other side of it was Kripke, who now looked rather green.

"Barry, are you okay?" Leslie asked, but when he just let out an eerie moan, she tried to just slam the door in his face. Kripke shoved the door back open. He moaned again before he leaned in and bit a huge chunk out of Leslie's neck. Blood squirted everywhere and Sheldon screamed and jumped back. He looked at his window, but he was several floors up. He didn't think he could jump for it safely.

Leslie dropped to the floor, so Kripke set his sights on Sheldon. He slowly walked closer to Sheldon while Sheldon kept screaming. That was until a huge book from one of Sheldon's book shelves hit him square in the side of the head.

"Run!" Amy shouted.

"Rude. It was just a prank," Kripke said as he rubbed the side of his head.

Leslie stood up and laughed at both Sheldon and Kripke.

"Later, losers," Leslie said. "Mrs. Loser," she added with a nod to Amy.

"She's not a loser and she is a doctor," Sheldon said. He wanted to kill both Leslie and Kripke, but for some reason he was distracted by the idea of someone making fun of his wife.

"That's why I said Mrs. Loser. Her loserdom comes from her connection to you, idiot."

"Oh. Very well," Sheldon said.

* * *

_**Sheldon and Cinnamon**_

Sheldon walked into Raj's apartment when the tiny hell beast came running at him. Sheldon jumped back and away from Cinnamon started sniffing his ankles. The dog just came closer because she thought that Sheldon was playing with her.

"Raj, get this thing away from me," Sheldon shouted.

"Shes smaller than your hands. How are you so afraid of her?" Leonard asked but scooped up the tiny dog to take her to Raj. The puppy felt fragile in his hands. Maybe it was better to keep her away from Sheldon. Sheldon wouldn't hurt the dog on purpose even if he was scared, but he might accidentally step on her in his efforts to get away.

Raj used to lock Cinnamon in his bedroom when Sheldon was over, but now that he lived in one room, he never put her in her crate until Sheldon was there. It seemed unfair to leave her in there for longer than absolutely necessary. Raj took his dog from Leonard and gave her a few kisses before he put her in the crate.

Cinnamon barked one tiny bark to express her displeasure at being locked up, but then lay down and watched the people through the bars of her crate.

Raj served the guys a nice home cooked meal. Raj used to do this about once a month or so before all the other guys were married. It was far less often now, but Raj still liked cooking for his friends. Since Penny and Bernadette were out of town and Amy was very busy in her lab, this seemed like a good excuse to play video games and try out a new recipe for fish tacos.

Later, while they were playing video games, the guys heard a loud crash outside. Howard and Leonard went to look, but they couldn't see what had made the noise. Howard, Raj, and Leonard started out the door to investigate.

"Are you coming?" Leonard asked Sheldon.

"Oh goodness no," Sheldon said.

Leonard rolled his eyes, but wasn't surprised.

Once the guys were gone, Cinnamon started making the saddest little noises that Sheldon had ever heard in his life. She softly scratched at the bars of her crate because she wanted to go with Raj. She looked at Sheldon like she was begging him to let her out to go with.

"Are you alright?" Sheldon asked the little dog. He was scared of the dog, but he didn't wish it any harm. That whine she did was just so sad sounding. Cinnamon didn't stop. She just looked at Sheldon with big eyes.

Sheldon walked over to the crate. He wasn't going to let her out, but he wanted to make sure she was okay. He touched the bars, and Cinnamon stopped crying. Instead she got on her back legs to reach Sheldon's hand. He was scared she was going to bite him, so he pulled his hand away. The puppy started crying all over again. Sheldon touched the bars again just to make her stop. She gave his hand a little bump with her nose. There were no teeth in sight, so Sheldon allowed her to smell his hand.

"I do the same thing with my wife," Sheldon joked to the puppy.

Cinnamon licked Sheldon's finger, but was still safely on the other side of the bars. Sheldon backed away from the crate, but Cinnamon started crying all over again.

"I can't let you out. You might kill me," Sheldon told the dog. It was met with more quiet crying from the dog.

Sheldon was too scared to let the dog out of the crate, but he pulled a chair over to sit next to it. He let Cinnamon bump his hand with her nose or lick him. She didn't even try to nibble on his fingers, so Sheldon started feeling a little more comfortable with the little dog. After a few more minutes, he opened the crate to let the little dog out.

Cinnamon jumped up onto his lap, and Sheldon's heart pounded. He resisted his urge to push her away. She just put her head on Sheldon's knee and settled in for a nap until Raj came back. She knew and liked Sheldon, so it didn't bother her at all that he was the human in the apartment. Sheldon softly pet her until the guys came back.

"It was an accident down the street," Raj started telling him, but stopped when he saw Cinnamon on Sheldon's lap. He was worried that Sheldon had done something to hurt the dog. They were both too calm together. "Did she get out?"

"I let her out. She was crying because you were gone. It was like the time I got trapped in the closet until Amy came home," Sheldon told them. Cinnamon seemed to notice that her daddy was back and woke from her nap. She jumped down and ran over with a happy wag of her tail.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Amy and Denise**_

"Would you like to come over and watch _Captain Marvel_?" was all the text from Denise said. Amy wondered if it was meant for someone else because Amy didn't even watch superhero movies with her husband. Why would she watch one with someone she barely knew?

"Was this meant for me?" Amy wrote back.

"Of course!"

Amy wasn't sure why Denise thought that Amy would enjoy that, but Amy didn't know for sure that she would hate it. She surprised herself by agreeing to come over to watch the movie. She offered to bring snacks.

"Thanks! I'll see you Friday night!" Denise wrote back.

When Amy got to the apartment on Friday night with popcorn, chips, and the supplies for hot chocolate, she wasn't sure exactly what to expect. She hadn't really spent time with Denise other than the day they studied comics together. That went nowhere with Sheldon, so it hadn't ever happened again. Still, Amy knocked on the door.

"Hey!" Denise said when she saw Amy. She went in for a hug, but Amy stepped back. "Oh, sorry. Not a hugger. I'll take those." Denise took the bags of snacks from Amy's hands.

"Is Stuart here?" Amy asked. She liked Stuart enough, but she wasn't sure if he was going to join them.

"No. He's working at the shop. After work he's going over to Howard and Bernadette's to babysit. I'm alone for the night. Or, I would be if you weren't here."

"He still babysits?"

"He wasn't going to, but Halley asks where he is all the time. Plus, he feels that he still owes them for helping him get back on his feet."

Amy just nodded awkwardly. Denise seemed so excited to be hanging out, but Amy wasn't sure why. Wouldn't she rather spend time with her other friends? She thought that they would probably share her interests.

They settled in with their snacks to watch the movie. Amy wasn't sure if she had seen this one before. They were all a bit much to keep track of.

"Oh. I did see this one. It's the lady superhero. I like when she steals that guy's motorcycle because he told her to smile. Oh. I didn't spoil it for you, did I? I hate when Sheldon does that," Amy said.

"No. I've seen it before," Denise assured her.

Whenever Amy had a question, she asked Denise, who didn't seem to mind in the slightest to answer. She just answered the question. Sometimes she even got up to grab a comic of the source material to show something to Amy. It all made a lot more sense to watch it this way.

"I'm sure that was a lot more annoying to watch with me than your other friends," Amy said as the credits rolled.

"Nah. It was nice to have a girls' night. All of my friends are men, and I miss spending time with other women," Denise admitted. Amy kind of understood that, but at least Denise had some friends. Still, Amy wouldn't give up Penny and Bernadette for anything.

"Oh! Well, you should come shopping with Penny and Bernadette and me sometime. It'll be different than this, but it would fill your need for some girl time," Amy offered.

"I'd like that," Denise said.

"Cool. I'll text you the next time we are making plans. And maybe we can have another movie night just the two of us. I'll pick next time. _Pride and Prejudice_, maybe? Then I can teach you all about it."

"Deal."

* * *

_**Amy and Howard**_

Amy knocked on Howard's lab door. She had never actually been here before, and had to ask Sheldon for directions. Well, after Sheldon tried to cobble together a new helmet to test neuro electric impulse measurements. He tried it on and shocked himself. Only then, did he give Amy the information as to where to find Wolowitz. Then he went home to lie down.

"Come in," Howard said.

"Hey. Do you have a minute to help point me in the right direction on something?" Amy asked as she stuck her head in. Then she stopped because she had no idea what Howard was up to. It didn't look at all like something the university would approve of.

"Yeah. Come in. I'm making a huge marshmallow. Then I'm going to melt it with this laser for the best s'mores you've ever seen," Howard explained as he watched Amy inspect his project.

"I'm sure that CalTech is very glad that you are advancing s'mores," Amy teased.

"Are you implying that I'm not hard at work?" Howard joked.

"Yes," Amy deadpanned.

"Anyway, what did you need help with?" Howard asked.

Amy explained that she was working on a new project to read brain patterns. Howard was pretty impressed with Amy's drawings already, and he was more than happy to help her build it.

"Are you sure that you can find the time with the marshmallow project?" Amy teased.

"I will get started with you tomorrow. The s'mores should be done by then."

Then an alarm started going off. Amy looked panicked, but Howard just put up a hand to calm her. Then he went and started hitting a few buttons elsewhere in lab. Then he returned.

"Fresh graham crackers," he told her.

"Wow. You are really going all in."

"Of course. I don't do time wasting by halves."

"Well, enjoy. I need to get back to work, but I will see you tomorrow."

Amy left Howard's lab. She liked Howard in a way that she never would have expected. He was just such a dweeb. He was exactly the kind of guy who would waste a whole day making s'mores, and Amy was completely charmed by it. If any of the other guys did that, she would probably give them a hard time about wasting resources.

Later, Amy was in her lab when there was a little knock at her door. She got up to grab it, but there was no one there. Only a small glass box containing perfectly toasted s'mores. She picked it up and bit into it. They were the best s'mores she had ever had. Maybe not a complete waste of time.

* * *

_**Priya and Anu**_

A posh Indian woman stepped in front of Anu's desk. Something about her seemed almost familiar, but Anu assumed that it was just that people tend to blend together after years in hospitality. Anu was filling in for the actual concierge today, which she hadn't had to do in a long time. She hoped she wasn't too rusty at it.

"Hello. How may I help you?" Anu asked in her general friendly tone.

"I was hoping that you could help me get some last minute restaurant reservations. My plans changed last moment, and I do no wish to upset my clients."

Anu knew that wouldn't be a problem at all. She discussed what kind of food and a few options thereupon. It was all really rather standard. Until Anu got the woman's name to make the reservation.

"Koothrappali?" Anu asked. It strung a little more than she thought, but she plastered a fake smile on her face and typed it in.

"K-O-O," the woman started.

"I've got it. Oddly enough my ex-boyfriend was also named Koothrappali," Anu assured this woman.

"Oh! I knew I knew you from somewhere. I'm Raj's sister, Priya."

"Oh. I'm sure we would have met at the wedding. If it had happened," Anu said with just a tiny bit of sadness bleeding into her voice.

Anu wanted to ask a million questions about Raj and how he was doing now, but she also wanted to be professional. She assured Priya that she would have the reservations all set. Priya wished her a nice day and walked away.

Anu got the reservation set with very little trouble, and went back to waiting for someone to ask for help with something else. It was a nice change from dealing with angry customers who needed to speak to a manager. That was someone else today. It made Anu miss LA and being an actual concierge. That was a job that was full of challenges.

Priya waved on her way out to her dinner. Anu waved back. She inspected Raj's sister and wondered if it was some kind of mistake. This woman was much more stylish and pretty than she would have expected out of a sister of Raj.

Anu was just getting off duty when Priya came back.

"I hope your dinner went well," Anu said.

"It was perfect. Thank you for your assistance," Priya said.

"Certainly not a problem."

"Would you like to grab a quick drink?" Priya asked. She was curious about this woman who was going to marry her brother once upon a time.

Anu nodded. She went to the bar with Priya. It was awkward at first. They didn't really know much about each other beyond what Raj had told them. That was until Anu was a couple drinks in.

"I miss him," she said with a hiccup. She normally never would let herself get this drunk with a client. In her own hotel. But somehow the Raj thing got to her more than she thought it would. She made a point to order a coffee and a glass of water instead of another glass of wine.

"He was an idiot for letting you go," Priya told her.

"I'm sure he's happier with his friends."

"He's still single. All of his friends are married with kids. Goodness, even that Sheldon is a father now. And Raj is still lonely and single. He should have followed."

"Well, it's too late now."

"Maybe. Maybe not," Priya said. She didn't say anything to Anu about the call to Raj earlier in the day telling him he was a complete and utter idiot for letting Anu go. She also didn't say anything about Raj buying a ticket to come visit his sister during her trip to London after that conversation.

* * *

_**Penny and Howard**_

Penny paced the apartment with Noah in her arms. This baby had one hell of a pair of lungs, and he was more than happy to use them. Penny adored her son, but she had been pacing with him for twenty minutes with no sign of the crying stopping.

"Hey. Is Leonard here?" Howard asked after he walked in without knocking, not that Penny would have heard it anyway. "Oh, he's upset," Howard added.

Penny was near tears as she nodded. She was tough, but this three week old infant was pushing her toward her breaking point. She never cried, but she really wanted to right now.

"Give him here," Howard said.

Penny handed over her son. Then she watched as Howard started doing some kind of weird squats with the baby still in his arms. After a few moments, there was nothing but glorious silence in the apartment.

"How did you do that?" Penny asked.

"Michael liked this one. Halley didn't really enjoy it though." Howard kept doing his squats with the baby. Then he handed the baby back over to his mother. Penny picked back up with the up and down movement. Noah stayed quiet.

"Leonard isn't here," Penny finally answered Howard's question from when he walked in.

"It's fine. I was just going to return this comic book."

"Oh. Okay. Thanks for the help," Penny said.

"Do you want me to hang out for a little bit?" Howard asked.

"I am not a bad mom," Penny told him. She didn't like that Howard Wolowitz of all people was a better parent than she was.

"Of course not. You are new though. I have a couple of toddlers at home, so I can give you a few more tips," Howard explained.

Penny nodded reluctantly. It was true that Howard had experience with this parenting thing. Penny decided that she wouldn't mind a few tips on how to get Noah to stop crying. Especially when her legs got tired from slowly lifting and lowering the baby in her arms.

When Leonard got home, he was surprised to find Howard on the couch with Penny. They were drinking coffee and chatting about babies while Noah slept on nearby.

* * *

_**Siebert and Captain Sweatpants**_

"Kevin isn't going to be there, right?" Siebert asked his wife, Elena.

"My brother is going to be at Thanksgiving," she assured him.

Siebert let out a very long sigh. It wasn't like he hated his brother in law exactly, but they weren't friendly. He couldn't believe that Kevin was in his 40s, lived in his mother's basement, and almost exclusively wore sweatpants despite it being decades since he did even a bit of exercise. It was almost inconceivable that Kevin was from the same family that produced Siebert's beautiful wife.

"Be nice," Elena added.

"I'm always nice to your brother," Siebert said.

Elena rolled her eyes because she didn't believe that at all. It was true that he wasn't often outright rude to her younger brother, but it was clear that he didn't agree with his lifestyle either. He seemed to think that Kevin was beneath him.

They pulled up in front of the house. Siebert helped Elena haul in the food she made to bring to dinner. Normally their daughter would be with them, but she was studying in London this term. It just didn't make any sense for her to come all the way home and miss school. They missed her, but she would be home next month for Christmas.

They walked up to the door that was answered by Kevin. He was in a pair of jeans and a sweater instead of his usual sweatpants and superhero t-shirt.

"How are things?" Siebert asked his brother in law.

"Things are going well. I've been subbing a lot. Flu season, I guess. I was even dressed for work a couple weeks ago when I stopped by the comic book shop when this guy named Sheldon lost his mind because I wasn't wearing sweatpants. I never minded the nickname Captain Sweatpants, but he takes everything so literally," Kevin joked. He liked working as a substitute teacher. It was challenging enough, but left him free to be able to take his aging parents to their doctor's appointments when they needed it.

"That's funny. I know a guy named Sheldon who would probably have a similar reaction," Siebert said.

Kevin opened his mouth like he was going to say something else, but then he noticed that his mother was trying to get the turkey platter off a high shelf. He ran over to help her instead.

"Ma, let me," he told her. He got the platter down and then kissed his mother on the cheek. He had been trying to get her to relax all day, but she wanted to cook for her family.

Over the course of the day, Kevin was jumping up every few minutes to help his mother cook the dinner. Siebert sat on the couch and watched football with his father in law. Then a while later they all sat down to eat.

"I'm so thankful for my Kevin," his mother said. "He's such a good boy who takes good care of us."

"She's not thankful for you?" Siebert whispered to Elena. "Or our daughter?"

"I'm sure she is, but we did sit around all day while Kevin helped with everything. Plus he does take good care of them. He's given up a lot to do that," she whispered back.

Siebert had never thought about it that way. Without their son, Elena's parents would probably need to be in some kind of assisted living facility. Instead, Kevin helped take very good care of them. Maybe Siebert was a little thankful for him too.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Raj and Bernadette**_

Raj knocked on the door of the Wolowitz house. When no one answered, he just let himself in as he always did. The knock was perfunctory anyway. He was always welcome at their home. At least as far as he was concerned.

No one was in the living room, but Raj thought someone must be home because the front door wasn't locked. He called out, but no one answered. Raj thought that was odd. He checked the kitchen and the dining room and the garage and the back yard. Maybe whoever left last forgot to lock the door. That would probably be Howard.

That was until Raj heard a noise upstairs. He thought it was his responsibility to go check it out. He crept up the stairs, but no one was in the kids' room. Raj thought he must have imagined the noise, but he thought he would peek into Howard and Bernadette's room. He opened the door to peek in.

"What the hell?" Bernadette screamed at Raj. She was standing in her bedroom holding clothes, but wearing none. She had just gotten out of the shower after getting home from the gym. She didn't expect her husband's best friend to just walk into the bedroom.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Raj shouted back.

"Get out!" Bernadette shouted back.

Raj stepped back and slammed the door behind him.

"I didn't mean to. I know I was in love with you once, but I didn't mean to. I thought that no one was home because I called out when I got here. Then I wanted to make sure the noise I heard up here wasn't someone who broke in," Raj promised through the door.

He didn't hear anything back from her through the door. He was debating if he should leave or not when the door opened. Bernadette was standing there fully dressed.

"You idiot," Bernadette said. Then she called him an idiot in more ways with more swear words than Raj had ever heard in his life. He was sure that she even made up a few new swear words just to get her point across.

"I'm sorry," Raj promised. He got on his knees to beg for her forgiveness.

"Get up, you idiot," Bernadette said. "I know you are sorry, but that doesn't mean you aren't completely ridiculous."

"Are you going to tell Howard?" Raj asked.

"Of course I am. And you are going to be here when I do. I'm not hiding this from my husband."

Raj wondered if he needed to update his will before he was ruthlessly murdered by his own best friend.

It turned out that Howard found it hilarious. He did threaten to kill Raj if it happened again, but he still laughed so hard he nearly wet himself.

* * *

_**Anyone and Emily**_

Emily looked at the back of the woman in line in front of her at the coffee shop. Something about her seemed familiar, but Emily couldn't figure out why. It was driving her crazy, so she stepped to the side to try to get a look at the woman's face.

"Oh! Amy. I thought you seemed familiar, but the clothes and hair are so different!" Emily realized that this was her ex boyfriend's friend, Amy Farrah Fowler.

"Hey, Emily. How are things?" Amy asked with a smile. She always rather liked Emily. She never really thought Raj and Emily were right together, but Emily was still a nice girl.

"Things are going well, but I suppose not as well as you. I heard about the Nobel. That's amazing. Congratulations!"

"Thanks. It's still surreal."

"And it looks like everything is going well with Sheldon," Emily added with a smile as she gestured to Amy's obviously pregnant belly.

"Yes. He's doing well. He's freaking out about becoming a father, but we're happy." Amy rubbed her belly. She could see that Emily was a little nervous about mentioning it since most people tried not to assume anything.

Amy stepped up because it was her turn in line. She ordered a hot chocolate and a cookie. Then she went to wait for her order.

When Amy got her stuff, she sat down at a table alone. She had just wanted to get out of the house and away from Sheldon's hovering. She waved at Emily as the redhead started to head out. Emily waved back, but stopped and asked if she could sit with Amy.

"Of course," Amy told her.

The pair got caught up on each other's lives. Amy's biggest news was literally news, and obviously Emily already knew. Still, Amy was glad to talk about getting married and the baby too. Emily had her own dermatology practice and was married too.

"Sounds like you are doing much better than Rajesh. He was engaged to this really great woman, but that fell apart."

"Maybe he should try dating a man," Emily offered. She thought that Raj had a tendency to self sabotage, and she wondered if it wasn't because he'd rather be with a man.

Amy shrugged because she didn't know about all that. It seemed possible, but that was Raj's choice.

"Enough about old boyfriends. Have you started on a quilt for the little one? I remember that's one of the things we had in common. Maybe we can work on it together?" Emily suddenly remembered that she and Amy were supposed to be friends before she met Raj. It might be too awkward, but she decided that she might want to pick that back up.

"I haven't yet, so that would be nice. Raj is hosting the baby shower though. Penny just had her son, so she's not quite up to hosting yet."

"I imagine that Raj will do a great job. He was always great at hosting a party." Emily suddenly got an idea. "Maybe we can arrange a meeting with my friend, Lincoln."

"Is he good at quilting?" Amy asked.

"Oh, God, no, but he would be perfect for Raj."

* * *

_**Leonard and Amy**_

With Sheldon out of town, Amy went across the hall to see if Penny minded her hanging out at their apartment. She knocked, but opened the door without waiting for either of her friends to answer.

"Hey, Amy!" Leonard said with a bit of cheer. Amy was one of his favorite people in the world even if he was pretty sure she didn't like him much. He still liked spending time with her all the same.

"Hi, Leonard. Is Penny here? Sheldon's still gone. I was hoping that I could join you guys for dinner."

"No. She's at work. Bernadette had some numbers for her to go over," Leonard told her.

"Oh. Alright. I'll go then," Amy said. She didn't want to bother Leonard. She knew that she annoyed him. It might be fine to have dinner with them if her best friend was there, but she didn't want to bug Leonard all night.

"Wait. Do you want to go out to dinner?"

"Just you and me?"

"Yeah."

That sounded nice to Amy. She thought she must look pretty sad for Leonard to take pity on her, but she really didn't want to be alone. She agreed and ran back across the hall for her jacket.

"Where do you want to go? Leonard asked Amy when he met her in the hall between their two apartments.

"Wow. It's been so long since someone asked me that. Um. Could we go get tacos from that truck downtown? Sheldon never lets me eat food from a truck," Amy said.

"Sure," Leonard said.

They went downstairs to get into Leonard's car. He didn't mind driving since he knew Amy had to all the time with Sheldon. He had Amy navigate him to the truck, but between that, it was very quiet in the car.

"How's work?" Amy asked him.

"Good… it's good," was all Leonard had to say. Small talk with Amy usually felt like a struggle. He thought about talking about their spouses, but Amy was more interesting than her connection to other people.

"What's the last fun thing you did?" Leonard asked. If he could get her on the right topic, they would be able to talk all night.

"With or without Sheldon?" Amy asked.

"Without."

Amy knew the answer, but she didn't know if she wanted to tell Leonard. Not even Penny knew about this. It was embarrassing, and she didn't know if she would be able to live it down.

"I can't tell you," Amy said

That had Leonard's attention.

"Are you cheating on Sheldon. I'd understand if you were," Leonard joked. He didn't think that she really would.

Then Amy was quiet a little too long, and Leonard became a little worried. He didn't really think she would, but he wished he could take back the joke. He didn't want to know if she was cheating.

"Are you?" Leonard asked.

"Goodness no. I've been making a series of videos where I recreate Jane Austen novels with sock puppets," Amy confessed.

"That's you?" These videos had gone a bit viral. Most people he knew had at least heard of them. Leonard himself had watched the whole series. It was funny and creative and a little surreal. He looked at Amy and suddenly felt silly for not realizing it was her.

"Only Sheldon knows. He sometimes helps me when I need an extra hand," Amy told him.

Leonard felt honored that she told him. She trusted him more than he would have ever suspected. He grinned at her, and she looked relieved that he wasn't laughing at her.

"Well, now you can have another extra pair of hands," he offered as they pulled up to where the taco truck was parked. He got out and opened the passenger door for Amy. He couldn't wait to hear how Amy got started with her project.

* * *

_**Amy and Alex**_

Amy knocked on Sheldon's door. She thought she would surprise him with lunch since her building at UCLA was closed for quarantine. Luckily that happened before Amy got into work that morning or she might be stuck there. Even if she wasn't, Sheldon might not let her anywhere near him. So, Amy went home and made a nice home cooked lunch for herself and her boyfriend.

Alex opened the door for Amy. Amy didn't know Alex very well, but her early distrust was completely gone. It was clear that neither Sheldon nor Alex was interested in the other in anything other than a professional context. Sheldon made it clear that he only had eyes for Amy. Alex not only seemed to have a thing for Leonard, but she also seemed to have a low level hatred for Sheldon the way many people did.

"Hello, Dr. Fowler. Dr. Cooper isn't here," Alex said.

"Oh. Is he in the cafeteria?" Amy asked. "I thought I would surprise him with lunch."

"No. Dr. Hofstadter came by and said something about a screening of Star Wars hosted by Mark Hamill. They left together, and I'm supposed to tell anyone who comes by that he was suddenly taken ill."

"But you told me the truth," Amy commented.

"You and Howard are the exemption. Howard gets a 'ha ha' added on at the end."

"What about Raj?" Amy asked.

"Dr. Koothrappali can't ask me where Dr. Cooper went, so it's a moot point."

Amy smiled because that was a good point. Then she frowned at the nice lunch she packed for herself and Sheldon. She made a stir-fry for them. It was still hot. She thought she might just put it the rest in her fridge for another day. Then she got an idea.

"Have you eaten yet? I did make enough for two," Amy offered.

"Sure," Alex said after she thought about it for a moment. She was curious about someone who would choose to be in a romantic relationship with Dr. Cooper. Plus, the food smelled great.

Amy smiled and set out the food while Alex finished up whatever task she was working on for Sheldon. It seemed that it was just more busy work.

The lunch was mostly quiet at first. These two didn't know much about each other.

"This is very good. Dr. Cooper is missing out," Alex said after a few moments. She wasn't lying, and she felt grateful that Dr. Fowler dropped by.

"I'm sure he would have hated it. I'm pretty sure Thursdays are PB&J with the crust cut off."

"Oh, I know. I have to memorize all of his schedules." Alex knew where and what Dr. Cooper was up to almost all the time. "I don't know how you put up with it." Then Alex realized that that wasn't entirely appropriate. "Sorry."

"He's an acquired taste. To be honest, he gets me in a way that no one else ever did. I'm better at fitting in. Especially now that I'm friends with Penny and Bernadette. But I never really clicked with anyone before him. You must appreciate that when he starts getting into some new idea about physics."

"Yes. He mostly disregards my ideas, but when he listens to me, it's very satisfying," Alex admitted. She was included in one of his footnotes in one of his most recent papers. She had it framed on her wall at home.

"He has a way of making the little crumbs he doles out worth it, doesn't he?" Amy asked.

"Yes, but I think we both deserve more than crumbs," Alex said. It was frustrating enough in her professional life. She didn't think she could tolerate it in her personal life.

"Well, maybe we'll both have to show him that we're worth more than that," Amy said. Though she couldn't imagine what she might need to do to show him that she was worth more to him. It wasn't like he would even notice if she broke up with him. She hoped it would never come to that.

* * *

_**Sheldon and Stuart **_

Stuart was ready to close up for the night. Technically the store shouldn't close for another hour, but Stuart knew that there wouldn't be any more customers. There never were on Sunday nights. He was tired. He wanted to get home to watch TV with his girlfriend before going to bed.

That was until Sheldon Cooper walked in. Stuart sighed, but went to ask Sheldon what he wanted.

"Oh, nothing. I accidentally locked myself out of my apartment. Amy is on her way back from her parents', so I thought I'd wait here until she gets home," Sheldon explained. Leonard and Penny were away for the weekend, so he didn't have any other options. Still, the comic store was close. He didn't mind waiting here.

"Can't you go somewhere else? I was about to close up," Stuart asked.

"Nonsense. Your posted hours state that you will be open for another hour." Sheldon walked over to the couch and grabbed a comic book to entertain himself.

Stuart rolled his eyes and stepped back behind the counter. He pulled out his phone to text Denise to let her know he wasn't going to come home early after all. She sent back a frowny face. In exchange, Stuart frowned at his phone.

"Can I ask you a question?" Stuart asked Sheldon out of nowhere.

"You just have, but I assume you mean another. Go ahead if you must."

"When did you know you want to marry Amy?"

"Eight weeks after I met her," Sheldon said without looking up from his comic book.

"But you didn't marry her for like ten years," Stuart argued.

"It was only eight. Don't be ridiculous." Sheldon looked up finally. He didn't know why Stuart asked him this, but it wasn't a hard question.

"I'm thinking about asking Denise."

"Oh. Don't. She'll expect regular coitus."

"We already have sex."

"Oh. Then you should ask her. Being married is great. If I had known how nice it was, I would have done it a long time ago. Actually, even the regular coitus hasn't been so bad now that I've gotten used to it," Sheldon told him. Though, he thought that his enjoyment in being married had a lot to do with his choice of partner. There was no one out there who could be as great as Amy, but Denise didn't seem too bad.

Stuart didn't expect that answer out of Sheldon. He was hoping someone would talk some sense into him. Tell him that he was moving too fast, but Howard and Bernadette told him something similar when he asked them a couple weeks ago.

"You don't think it would be a mistake?"

"Stuart, I'm trying to read this," Sheldon said as he held up the comic book in his hands.

Stuart got up and went back to the counter. He text back and forth with Denise. She was his favorite person. There was no doubt of that.

About ten minutes before the store was actually supposed to close, Stuart jumped from the sound of a horn honking outside.

"That's Amy. See you," Sheldon said. He stood and started to the door.

"You aren't going to buy anything?" Stuart asked.

"I don't need anything." Sheldon opened the door, but he turned back. "You should ask her. Amy is still the best thing that ever happened to me."

"What about the Nobel?"

"No Amy, no Nobel. Bye," Sheldon said. He gave a little wave and ran to get into Amy's car.

Stuart got out his phone and texted Denise that he loved her and would be home soon. He wasn't going to propose tonight, but somehow Sheldon was the one who sold him on it. It would be soon. First he had to lock up.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Amy and Raj**_

"What do you want from your new look?" Raj asked Amy as they got into his car to head out to make her over. He had wanted to help her out with her look for ages. It was exciting to finally be able to get his hands on her.

"I'm not sure," Amy said. "More feminine, I guess. I don't want to be too sexy though."

"Why not?" Raj asked. He had been to the beach with Amy before. He had seen her in a bathing suit. He knew she had a nice figure. She could stand to be a little sexy.

Amy shrugged. She didn't think she could pull off sexy. Not the way that Penny or even Bernadette could.

"I'm almost 40. I don't think I could wear a short skirt or a low cut blouse," Amy explained.

Raj took that in. He didn't think that Amy needed to reveal skin to be sexy. Mostly she needed a bit more confidence. They should probably shop for that first. He had a idea.

"Let's try a haircut and some new makeup," Raj suggested.

"Oh, I don't know. Sheldon would hate that," Amy said.

"It's just hair. It'll grow back," Raj reassured her. He thought that she should do this for herself instead of worrying about Sheldon. He might throw a fit, but anyone who knew them knew that Sheldon would get past it. He always gave Amy a lot more slack than anyone else.

"Okay. I could use a trim."

The pair drove to Raj's favorite salon. He called to make sure his girl could squeeze them in. Luckily she had a cancellation earlier in the day, and it wasn't a problem. Plus, once she heard that her work might be on TV, it warmed her up even more.

"What do you want to do?"

"A trim?" Amy said.

"More than a trim." Raj said. The held his fingers at about where he thought she should cut it. It was about shoulder length. Amy hadn't had hair that short in decades. Amy's eyes went wide at how short a Raj suggested, but she thought about how he said it would grow back. Plus, it wasn't as short as Penny went a few years before. She nodded, but covered her eyes when the first cut was made.

"It's cute," Raj said.

"I'll look when it's done," Amy said from behind her hands.

It took less time than Amy expected, but she put her glasses on to inspect her new haircut. And something happened that she never would have believed; she loved it. She thought she looked like an adult, but young. She smiled at Raj. Maybe change wouldn't be so bad.

Raj thanked his hair stylist, and they headed back out. Raj took Amy to a Sephora so that she could get some makeup. They did it for her so they could sell her on the various products. It wasn't radical, but it was more flattering.

They picked out a new pair of glasses before moving onto clothes. Raj was happy to see that Amy was now grinning ear to ear. He was glad. It genuinely made him sad to see her so upset earlier in the day.

"Come on. Just try it on," Raj urged Amy about a dress he thought would look great on her.

"It doesn't have sleeves!" Amy said. "It's so low cut. It hits my knees."

"Just try it. You don't have to buy it."

Amy did try on the dark blue dress. It wasn't as revealing as she feared. Particularly when Raj suggested pairing it with a jacket. Then he added a belt to show off her figure. He thought she looked like she instantly lost about twenty-five pounds from the outfit she walked in with.

"What do you think?" Raj asked Amy. He couldn't read her expression. There were plenty of other options if she didn't love this, but he thought she looked great.

"I look hot!" Amy said with a huge smile.

"There's the confidence we were looking for. I knew you could pull off sexy. We'll get this and look for some more."

"I am a little sexy now, aren't I?" Amy asked.

"You were before. Everyone else can just see it now," Raj said as he picked up another dress he thought would look great on her.

* * *

_**Emily and Penny**_

Penny was great at liking people. It was the only part of being a waitress she was fantastic at. It was what made her fantastic as a sales rep. She could find something in most people to latch onto. Honestly, it had a lot to do with how she fell into her group of special nerds. It was rare that Penny just hated someone. However, she hated Raj's girlfriend, Emily.

It was fine because Emily hated her too. Penny knew that just happened sometimes. It didn't bother her the way it bothered her friend, Amy. It was really only a problem when they all had to hang out together. However, Penny was an adult. She didn't find ways to get back at people she didn't like anymore. Instead, she just played nice to Emily when they were forced together.

Penny did briefly rethink this policy when Raj and Emily walked up to her while she was at a bar grabbing a drink alone. Leonard and Sheldon had taken over the apartment with some ridiculous game, and she volunteered to go pick up dinner, but she thought she'd grab a drink first. She didn't expect this, and her patience was already so gone she couldn't spot it with binoculars.

"Hey, guys," she said with a forced smile.

"Hey," Raj said. Then his phone started ringing. He put up a finger and left to go take the call outside, leaving Emily and Penny alone.

Emily sat next to Penny at the small table she occupied. Emily gave Penny a pretty forced smile, but didn't know what to say. It was clear that Penny wasn't a threat to her relationship, but that didn't make them friends.

"Where's Leonard?" Emily asked after a few moments of awkwardness.

"At home with Sheldon. I'm picking up dinner for the three of us," Penny told her. She wanted to sigh, but she held it in.

"I know what that's like. Raj loves Howard more than he might ever love me," Emily said. It was a joke, but it even Penny could see a little bit of sad truth in her eyes. It was an unusually vulnerable moment from the red head. Penny wondered if it had come up again recently.

"I'm not sure that Sheldon and Leonard are quite as close as Raj and Howard, but I get it. Sometimes it feels like I'm engaged to them both. And I wouldn't worry about Howard. It's the little dog you need to watch out for," Penny joked.

Emily smiled at Penny. It was genuine because it was nice that Penny was trying to make her feel better when she didn't have to. It made her want to give Penny a second chance in a way that she never felt before.

"How's the new job?" Emily asked.

"It's going really well, actually," Penny started. She told Emily a funny story, that as a doctor, only she would really get.

Raj came back to find Emily laughing with Penny. He was pleasantly surprised that they were getting along. He wasn't stupid. He knew they didn't like each other much.

A waiter then showed up with Penny's to-go order. She got up and said her goodbyes to Raj and Emily. Then she came back.

"Hey. The girls and I are going to a movie and to get drinks tomorrow. Do you want to come?" Penny asked. Somewhere in this conversation, she found the little thing to like about Emily. She wasn't quite sure what it was yet, but she could grow it into a real friendship. It was kinda her super power.

"Yeah. I'd like that," Emily said.

* * *

_**Amy and Penny**_

Amy could hear the baby crying even before she reached the fourth floor of her building. Instead of walking into her apartment, she decided to check in with her best friend. She cracked the door to peek in. There she saw that it wasn't just the baby crying. Penny was crying too.

"Oh. Are you okay?" Amy asked. She had been friends with Penny for nearly a decade, and had only seen her cry three times. Penny wasn't a crier.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Penny promised. She tried to wipe her eyes, but more tears came. It wasn't doing her any good. Still, she tried to smile at Amy.

"Can I hold him?" Amy asked about the baby who was still screaming. She had no idea what was going on with Penny, but she wanted to help. She reached out for the baby.

"I've got him," Penny insisted.

"I'm not kidnapping him," Amy promised. She just wanted to hold her godson for a moment.

Penny finally handed him over.

"Hi, Noah. I'm your Aunt Amy. Do you remember me?" Amy cooed to the boy. She pulled him close to kiss his forehead. He kept on crying just as loud as before. Still, she just talked to the boy as if he was her new best friend.

"How do you keep so calm with the screaming?" Penny asked.

"I'm not sleep deprived. I haven't been listening to it all day. My hormones aren't trying to get back to normal after my body grew a whole person. I'm also a little used to screaming because of monkeys at work." Then Amy understood why Penny was crying. She was just completely stressed out.

"Right," Penny said. She had some water and tried to take a deep breath. Leonard had just gone back to work, but she wished that he was still around. Being a parent was a little easier when they were together.

"Why don't I take him for a little walk? You can take a shower or a quick nap or whatever," Amy offered.

Penny wasn't sure. She didn't want to let him out of her sight just yet. But then she remembered that this woman was the godmother of her child. She was Penny's best friend. If Penny could trust her child with anyone, it was Amy Farrah Fowler. She nodded and got out the stroller. She and Amy make sure that Noah was warm enough with his little hat and plenty of blankets. Then Amy left with Noah, but promised to return within a half hour unless she called to otherwise explain.

Penny took a few minutes to just breathe. Then she jumped into the shower before lying down in her bed just to rest her eyes.

She woke to her phone ringing. She saw it was forty-five minutes later and the call was from Amy. She panicked and answered the call.

"Is everything okay?" Penny asked.

"Of course. I just can't come back yet," Amy explained. "But you can join us if you want."

"What?" Penny asked.

"Noah loves the elevator. Every time I try to get him off of it, he starts crying again. We've been going up and down for the last twenty minutes since I got back from our trip around the block."

Penny got up and went to the elevator. She pressed the button and sure enough, there was Amy and Noah when the doors opened. She stepped onto the elevator as it started going down. When they got to the bottom, they went back to the top. Then back down again.

When Leonard came home, he was surprised to find Penny and Amy standing in the elevator together with mugs of tea just talking.

"Heading out?" Leonard asked.

"No. Get on quick before he starts to cry again," Penny said as she pulled her husband onto the elevator. They rode up while she explained that Noah liked the elevator.

"He's asleep," Leonard pointed out. When he got to his floor, he pushed the stroller out. Noah stayed quiet. Penny stayed in the elevator with Amy. It turned out she needed a little friend time just as much as she needed that shower or the little naps. Without Noah, they went up and down a few more times.

* * *

_**Stuart and Denise**_

Sheldon came in to ask about a comic book for Amy. Since the first year wedding anniversary was paper, he thought that getting Amy a comic book as a gift was a good idea. Stuart offered to do a custom drawing of the pair on paper for him instead. Stuart missed drawing, so he gave Sheldon a deal, and promised that it would be done before their anniversary.

While Stuart was working on it, he realized that Sheldon and Amy's wedding anniversary was also one year since his first date with Denise. Well, sorta. They did go to the wedding together. They did make out at said wedding. They did not start actually dating then. However, Stuart had never dated someone this long. He wasn't exactly sure what he should do for it. Did people celebrate things like that? Then, as he looked at the drawing of Sheldon and Amy in front of him. He finished it. Then he started another. And another. He stayed in the back room of the shop too late into the night working on his surprise for Denise.

"Come have dinner with me at the comic book store?" Stuart said to Denise on their maybe anniversary. Sheldon had collected his drawing already, so Stuart closed the store and started decorating.

"Just takeout still the store again?" Denise asked. She sounded a little disappointed, and Stuart rethought his plan. But he already ordered their favorites. He didn't want to waste the food or money. Plus he wanted her to at least see what he did to the store.

"Yeah. I ordered Indian," Stuart told her.

Denise agreed, and promised she would be there soon. Stuart hung up the phone and put up a few finishing touches in the store.

When Denise got to the store, she knocked on the door. It was dark inside and locked. No one answered, so she text Stuart. He finally came to the door, but he still didn't turn on the lights. It was too dark to see much in the store when he let her in.

"Surprise!" Stuart shouted as he finally turned on the lights.

Around the store there must have been a hundred little drawings tacked to the walls. Denise got closer to them. They were little cartoons of them. A little orange Stuart symbolized their first real date. There was another of their first kiss at Sheldon and Amy's wedding. All of them were big (and little) moments from the last year.

"What's this?" Denise asked.

"I wanted to do something special. It's been one year since we first kissed," Stuart said.

"I thought you didn't care." She felt silly for feeling disappointed that he seemingly forgot. He was so cute with this wonderful surprise.

"I do. I have loved all of these moments. The last year has been the best of my life. Not that there's been a lot of competition." Stuart picked up a drawing of a smoking oven from the first time Denise tried to make him dinner. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Denise said. She leaned down to kiss Stuart.

* * *

_**Amy and Bert**_

"Hey, Bert," Amy said when she passed him in the hall. He ignored her, which wasn't exactly like him. She just shrugged though. Maybe he was busy or "in the zone" like her husband might be. It wasn't a big deal. She wasn't worried about him ignoring her one time.

Two weeks later, Amy saw Bert in the hall again, so she repeated her "Hey, Bert" to him. He ignored it again, but he was also gone before she could ask him about it. She was starting to wonder if she did something to upset him. She couldn't think of anything, but she thought she would go ask Sheldon about it. She went to his office before heading to lunch.

"Did you clean out your hair brush in front of him?" Sheldon asked. Then he shivered theatrically to show his most recent displeasure with his wife. He couldn't think of anything that she might have done, but he also couldn't help but needle her a little.

Amy rolled her eyes. She didn't think that was it. Still, she took Sheldon's hand to walk to the cafeteria where she met the other guys. None of them could think of anything that she had done to upset Bert. Leonard had spoken to Bert that morning. Nothing bad was mentioned. They encouraged Amy to just go ask Bert if anything was wrong if she was worried about it.

"Would you like to come with me?" Amy asked Sheldon.

"Why would I? Bert isn't mad at me," Sheldon told her.

Amy sighed, but headed to Bert's office. She knocked lightly on his door, and cracked it open when he shouted for her to come in.

"Hey," Amy said.

"Hi. How can I help you?" Bert asked.

"I was wondering if I did something to upset you. I've seen you in the hallways a few times, and you haven't said hi back," Amy said. She hated when people she thought were friends were mad at her. It reminded her too much of when her friends in high school would suddenly drop her, and she would learn that they were never her friends to begin with.

"Who are you?" Bert asked.

Tears pricked at the corners of Amy's eyes. She really couldn't imagine what she had done to him for him to treat her this way. She was sorry for whatever it was. If she could just get him to tell her.

"I get it. You are really upset with me," Amy said. She grabbed the door to leave.

"Wait," Bert said. Amy could tell that he was contemplating something. She waited to hear what she had done. "I'd rather you don't tell anyone this, but I have pretty severe face blindness. I really don't know who you are. It sounds like we are friends, so I hope you'll understand."

"Really?" Amy asked. "It's Amy," Amy told him. "But you haven't had any problems recognizing me before."

"Amy? But where is your sweater and your long hair?" Bert asked.

"Oh. I got a makeover. I cut off my hair, and Rajesh helped me pick out some new clothes."

"That's the problem. Part of the reason I'm drawn to you and Sheldon and the guys is because you guys tend to dress the same day to day. It's not hard to remember Howard's bowl cut or Raj's sweater vests. Though, I'll admit that your wedding was a bit of a mine field. I ended up talking to some guy with a mullet about tires for most of the night. I still don't know who he was."

"My brother-in-law, George," Amy informed him.

"Right. I'm glad you've been here the whole time. I was worried that you left the university after the news of the Nobel. Congrats on that, by the way."

"Thanks," Amy said. She was quiet for a moment. "Have you always had face blindness?"

"Yeah. Ever since I was a kid. I've mostly found ways to compensate, but I also tend to keep to myself. You know, until I started hanging out with you guys."

Amy thought that was fascinating, but she didn't mention that she wanted to study him. This didn't seem like the time. Instead, she was mostly relieved that this wasn't her fault. Well, not really. She would have made a point to tell Bert about the makeover if she had known.

"Want to come to dinner at the apartment tonight?" Amy asked. She knew what it was like to be lonely, and she didn't want that for Bert. If she and her friends made him feel comfortable, she wanted to include him as much as possible.

"Sounds nice," Bert told her. "Amy has short hair now," he whispered to himself as he pulled out his phone to change his notes on her.

* * *

_**Mary and Amy**_

Amy didn't want to go to Texas. She did when they arranged this trip, but things had changed since then. Exciting news had turned into heartbreak, and Amy wasn't up to being around people for Thanksgiving. Not even family.

"We promised Mom we would go," Sheldon told her when she asked if he could get them out of it. She didn't think he would, but she wanted to ask. The only person he couldn't break a promise to was his mother.

"Okay." Amy agreed. "Can we at least not tell them about the baby?" Amy didn't want people asking her about it, so she didn't want to even mention the baby or the miscarriage. This was going to be bad enough without all that. She was still struggling to make it through the day without crying.

"Of course," Sheldon said. He kissed her on her cheek. He didn't think he much wanted to talk about it either. He was glad that Amy insisted on waiting to tell everyone. Only their close friends knew right now. They planned to tell everyone else at Thanksgiving. It was part of the reason they were going.

On the other side of the plane ride, Amy was met by the arms of her mother-in-law. Amy returned the hug.

"Oh, you two look awfully tired. Let's get y'all back home and in bed," Mary said. She didn't expect to see them looking so run down. After they won that fancy award, they had been busy, sure, but they also seemed happier than she had ever seen them. Maybe that all had caught up with them. They sure needed to have some time to rest and relax and some good home cooking. Luckily, she was exactly the person to provide it for them.

Mary took them home and put them right to bed. Then she started on a nice big dinner for them. She hadn't planned on doing anything big before Thanksgiving because that took up enough time and energy. Still, she made all of Shelly's favorites for them.

"Need a hand?" Amy asked when she came out of the bedroom. She tried to sleep for a half hour, but gave up. She didn't sleep much anymore.

"I've got it. Want some coffee?" Mary asked. Then she remembered that Shelly said they had some news. She had a feeling that she knew what it was. "Or tea, if you can't have any coffee."

Tears started down Amy's cheeks. She had a feeling that Mary knew what their news was supposed to be. The news they wouldn't be sharing now.

"Goodness. Are you okay?" Mary asked Amy. She abandoned the chicken on the stove. She didn't care if it burned. She walked over and wrapped Amy in a hug.

"No. I'm not okay," Amy confessed. Considering she was the one who insisted that they not tell anyone, she didn't want to lie.

Mary pulled away from the hug to inspect Amy. All of the pieces came together without another word from Amy.

"When did you lose it?" Mary asked. She wiped the tears from Amy's cheeks with her fingers.

"The chicken," Amy pointed to the now smoking stove. Mary walked over and turned off the stove. Then she turned back to Amy. "Sheldon was right about your emotional intelligence," Amy added.

Mary smiled a sad smile, and waited for an answer or a declaration that Amy didn't want to talk about it. Instead, Amy just stayed quiet.

"I don't think Shelly knows this, but I got pregnant again when the twins were about ten. It seemed like a bad time for a baby. George was working at the high school after he lost his job about a year and a half before. Sheldon was, well, Sheldon. He had just started high school. It seemed like the other two weren't getting enough attention as it was. But I loved that little baby growing in me. I wanted it so bad. Then one day not long after I first learned of its existence, it was gone. I still have a little hole in my heart for that baby."

"It never got better?" Amy asked. She didn't know anyone who had gone through this. Bernadette and Penny both had healthy babies. Other than Bernie going on bed rest for a while, they had even been pretty smoothly.

"I didn't say that. Like any other grief, it fades. It gets easier. I also never forgot it. You won't either. But what you will do, is keep living your life. Maybe get pregnant again. You'll laugh and smile again. Maybe one day you'll share your story with a lovely young woman who needs to hear it."

"Thanks, Mary. Are you sure you don't want some help with that food?" Amy asked. She felt a little better after talking to Mary.

"Of course not," Mary said. She threw away the ruined chicken and started over again.

When Sheldon emerged from his nap a while later, he was pleased to see Amy smiling as she sat talking to his mother. He missed her smile. This one. The real one.


End file.
